A Boston College sports blog capturing the highs and lows of being a BC fan living 1,000 miles from Chestnut Hill.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

One step closer

It looked like we were sleep walking again. But then the guys woke up in a big way. Then, predictably, Florida State hung around. Regardless of the uneven flows, BC came out ahead in the end. The team has now reached the important 8 ACC win mark with two regular season games remaining. Who would have predicted that in October? Here are my thoughts. Leave yours below.

Likes-- Sanders’ rebounding and defensive aggressiveness. He had me cringing on offense but his hustle was crucial tonight. He played smart defensively and picked up 9 boards, 3 steals and 2 blocks. If he shows that sort of effort down the stretch, we can knock off more big names.-- Defensive switches. I thought the guys rotated and switched off better than they have all season. I also appreciate Raji and Sanders fronting their men in the low post. -- Paris running the point. He looked good...especially driving to the hoop. I think he’ll acquit himself well as the main PG next year.-- Different looks for Douglas. Like we’ve done with other marquee players this year, we kept Douglas offbalance by using a variety of defenders on him. He scored 19 but wasn’t particularly effective or efficient.

Dislikes-- Offensive possessions in the final two minutes. Up 1 with two minutes left the team made a few bad, bad decisions. If not for clutch rebounds from Paris and Sanders, the game could have gone another way. I don’t like when they spread out and let Rice work the clock. I much prefer the successful play of Paris finding Rice coming off a screen.-- Sanders’ shot selection. He took some awkward and bad shots including a forced 3 in the final minute. He got lucky on his up and under. He shouldn’t be shooting eight 3s. His best shots are in transition or down low.

24 comments:

What an awesome, exciting win. Conte was not jam-packed like I hoped it would be, but when Rice hit that 3 in the last minute, those who were there went absolutely bonkers. That was a great feeling. You are right that the other possessions in the last couple of minutes were really frustrating and almost cost the game. Also, late in the game Sanders took a floater and a nearly half-court three. I can't decide which shot was more horrific and inexplicable. Although that shouldn't take away from the strong game he played most of the night, giving us first half points that got us back in the game and a momentum-turning monster dunk.

I guess the Duke game did not provide much momentum towards getting people to show up, especially students. The game was at 9 and that must be tough for families with kids. Still, were the students? Conte was maybe 2/3 full for a huge game against a ranked team that had major tournament-berth implications for BC. Again, the people who showed were really enthusiastic. But it is really disappointing that there were so many empty seats.

I almost didn't go to this game, but as it was my last basketball game as a student I felt I had to and that was such a GREAT decision. This was a great game, that ended with what has become a typical HUGE Tyrese Rice play in the last minute. The students went wild when he hit that last three, it was great to be there.

I'll agree though that the attendance, as always, left much to be desired. Surprisingly, I guess a 9PM game on a school night is a tough one for some people to make. And, I'm not trying to make excuses, but it is midterm season here so I think that may have kept some students away. But, those who were there were really enthusiastic. Hopefully we can carry a little bit of this momentum with us against GT and NCSU, win out and go dancing.

I have to pile on about attendance. Far from discussions about BC as a poor "traveling school," I don't know for the life of me why people are not supporting this team on its home court. Thanks to the students for filling their sections for exactly one game all year (Duke). Harsh? No, I don't think so. This was your last home game before Spring Break. What a shame for this team that is overachieving.

The (non)energy from the (non)crowd matched the energy from the team in the beginning of the first half. Yes, the first 13 minutes was awful BC basketball. The fact that the team picked themselves up and fought, without much of a home court advantage, speaks volumes about their will. Trapani almost single-handedly kept us in the game in the first half. Biko was big down the stretch. And Tyrese had a tough game, but you that late 3 was clutch. Sanders may have had some missteps, but he was the leading rebounder.

I think we are safely in......which is amazing considering pre-season expectations.

i hate to pile on with the weak crowd comments, but yeah, pretty awful. less than half full at tip off and never filled out more than 75%. last game before spring break and plenty of student seats empty. got great seats at face, for a fantastic game (which you had to know going in).

awesome win for the team - i hope they show up like this in the acc tourney. stoked about watching this group next year and the next couple years. we could also do some damage this year, too. eagles on the warpath...

Well, just to find (desperately) something good to say about the attendance, say whatever you want, it's still vastly improved over last year.

I keep coming back to that, and you know what, that might be all we can take from it. I was disappointed tonight, too; there were stretches were it was inexcusably quiet.

I don't know if the new ticket policy has helped (or hurt, or even made a difference), but I wish there were some way to get more people to go. Apparently we're the most expensive in the ACC, but I doubt many here really think that makes the difference.

The student section was almost entirely filled for the Virginia Tech game too as far as I can remember. Tonight was a night where most people I know were hunkering down to finish midterms and get to spring break and not about to go to a basketball game at 9, especially when some of the kids who have tickets aren't really basketball fans to the point that they would know that FSU is actually good this year.

As for two of atleagles likes: the switching was good but sometimes our over commitment to the help defense left the backside pass wide open and FSU exploited that early inside with their bigs, but with Dunn and Southern you have to accept that. Also any chance Josh cannot pick up a foul on a point guard when hedging a screen? It happens at least once a game.

As for Rakim if he would not rely solely on his athleticism and actually put body on someone more often he would be a much more effective rebounder, its been a glaring hole in his game for most of the year. Also something else about him thats been bothering me all year is when he closes out on perimeter shooters he is very lackisdesical and tends to put his hand in their chest instead of up in their face. He does that sometimes when just face guarding his man as well.

I'll take the midterms excuse this week, but what about Clemson? Wake? And just about every other home game this year? I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but this team is putting up some quality wins in a very exciting and competitive league and seeing completely empty sections is pathetic. What else is going on Tuesdays at 9pm that kids can't walk over to Conte and check out some great games? BC has been so interested in joining the ranks of the Ivy Leagues with the kinds of students they are attracting, maybe they need to go back to accepting the well rounded kid who can put down the books and take in a game or 2... Congratulations to the team for overachieving this year and hopefully this win will w get out of this bubble talk...

Great win last night and I was real proud of the toughness BC showed throughout the game.

Not to beat a dead horse on attendance, but I specifically checked the comments to see if people were talking about this. I got to the game about 5 mins before tip off and was really disappointed in both student section and regular seat attendance. The students who were at the game were pretty into the game which made for a better atmosphere, but maybe BC needs to do something drastic to change this. Why not offer family packages where kids get in for free or some sort of halftime experience that may draw more locals (since it is clear that the bball team isn't). And I am fairly certain that some schools in the ACC give tickets to students for free...however I think most of those are from state schools.

This may sound pessimistic, but I don't think this fan base gets any larger or more active at games until we get a final four berth. It pisses me off too, but I'm not sure what else can be done...

No more excuses. The bottom line is we cannot expect these students to support the team. One of you commented that it would take getting to the final four. If we got to the final four, the students would not show up and have some excuse that it was too expensive and they could not find a flight. KJB I agree maybe we need to revisit our admissions policy and look for a different type of student. If we were to eliminate football and basketball, I am pretty sure the bulk of the current students would not really care. Once again I do want to thank the students who did come out for the game.

It's the 9 pm start that is the killer for regular attendance. A pretty significant portion of the non-student stands are family filled; it's a tough sell for a game that won't end until 11 pm. Hell, it's a tough sell for me with work in the AM (but I still went, anyway).

As far as basketball attendance, you all missed the 98/99 season... they could have had $.10 beer night and still not filled the student section.

Frankly, BC is a hockey school first, football second, and basketball is a distant third. I was expecting that since hockey is down this year, the basketball team would catch some love, but unless they are ranked or playing UNC/Duke, the atmosphere will always be hit or miss.

And it isn't like MD games have been packed either, so it isn't a problem only found at Conte.

Boy, am I sick of complaining about attendance, and in no way is it "drastically better" than last year. As I've said before, this issue goes all the way back to the Smith era. At the the time we were in the top 10 and the place was still not full. I agree with Frank, BC needs to do something drastic. I think their efforts to generate enthusiasm have been a failure. I think they rely on the basics like a few ads in the Globe and some emails. They need to employ some new, fresh ideas, tap into social networking techniques, start a grassroots effort among the students who do support the team. Some strategy! And, yes, I agree that a true home court environment translates into a few more wins each year -- no doubt about it.

I have a feeling that it's the 9 PM weekday starts that have been killing the attendance this year. I don't remember a year in which we've had so many 9 PM weekday starts at home. (Wake, Clemson, FSU...were there any more?) We did sell out or close to sell out the Wake, NC State, Va Tech, and Duke games...plus the Miami game which happenned during winter break and had no student tickets had just under 8,000 fans. The Clemson and FSU games (both 9 PM Tuesday night games) have been the only two with poor attendance. Also, if I remember correctly, didn't the student section used to only consist of the yellow seats on the floor before our move to the ACC? So, in theory, wouldn't that mean more students are attending games than they did in years past? It just looks emptier because they allotted more tickets to the student section than they used to. And again, I don't understand why all the blame is put on the students. At least the students that are at the game get into it. The other fans don't even fill up their sections, and don't even make a lot of noise either.

"KJB I agree maybe we need to revisit our admissions policy and look for a different type of student."

I strongly disagree with this - I can't believe anyone's advocating changing our admissions policy because of basketball attendance. This is a university, not a sports bar. I think it's really important to show some school spirit and get into our teams, but to penalize kids who value their education and career success over going to a game, that's terribly misguided.

Another big problem with attendance over the years is that when there are tickets available for the non-student fans, they are not great tickets. The Red Seats are always sold out every year but those fans do not show up consistently. Then add in students staying away because of midterms and families not wanting to come to a 9 pm game and a season-defining game ends up with poor attendance. I think BC has to be pretty high on the list of teams that sell a high percentage of tickets that never get used.

BC should have a more proactive ticket sales force in A-B and Newton.Give the youth basketball teams free tickets when you only have 5,000 people at an 8,000 person arena. Over time you will build up a loyal local following. BC is not a giant state school that people will rally behind, they need a little convincing.

Go to Brighton high and give away t-shirts and tickets.

Also, on campus the word needs to get out more. Its an unfortunate reality that most students don't seem to know about the games until game day. I wish this wasn't the case, but it is.

BC causes these problems for themselves. There are large groups local alums who want to buy tickets, but BC prices them out. BC's insistence on building their endowment through forced donations hurts the tailgates, and the electricity at football and basketball games. The alumni who make the donations and get the tickets are older, quieter, and less inclined to create the environment that we all seem to want.

BC long ago sold their soul for the almighty dollar. We're just trying to support our teams with the left overs.